"Fu's food blog, a mixture of humor and insight, is a surefire hit and brings a new meaning to the word - hungry" says Sherwin

Sunday, August 17, 2008

STK (Los Angeles/West Hollywood)

In Los Angeles you have a mix of foodie restaurants and celebrity restaurants. You know what I'm talking about when I say a celebrity restaurant, the food could be great, could be good, or could be bad.. but you don't go there really for the food.. the quality of the food is just a side benefit.. you go there to say you've gone there. It's a place filled with people eating thereto make sure they are seen.

Don't get me wrong, the food can still be good.. it just costs more than your average meal. You gotta pay to have the paparazzi camped outside your restaurant. *shields face, NO PAPARAZZI PLZZZ*

This particular night, my MCDP (most cherished dining partner) , a few other buddies, and I went to STK.

First thing to note, the restaurant is beautiful in terms of it's decoration, it's very modern with clean crisp lines and stark contrasts in color.

Dangling lights all over the restaurant with a black ceiling makes it look like you're dining under the stars.

As well the table is this dark matted finish, almost like you're eating on leather.

It makes me feel rich. Also gives me the calm that nothing is going to fall off the table.

First up, bread basket in an iron skillet.Olive bread and normal bread, some aoili and tapenade.

First appetizer, Foie Gras French toast

Chunks of pan seared Foie with green apple and almond brioche, drizzled with a sherry sauce. Well executed dish, the apple is cooked perfectly , it's sturdy enough to eat along with the foie but not to sturdy that it doesn't fall apart when you bite it along with the foie. The foie itself is well cooked, it's not overly rich and doesnt' make you ask for a glass of Reisling to pair with it.The Brioche was sweet and perfectly crisp, I liked this dish very much.

Next appetizer was a special. Seared Scallops.

served with pea sprouts, grilled apple, and a light caramel sauce. I like the contrast between the sweetness of the caramel and the salty-seaness (new word!) of the scallop, but I wasn't awe struck by the dish , I prefered the Foie much more so.

One of my other dining companions shared the Bone in New York steak with me (26oz).

Heavily pan seared with generous amounts of salt and pepper. I could not tell you the quality of this beef, whether it's prime/choice/select because it was so outrageously undercooked. The fat didnt' melt yet so we were sawing away at the steak trying to get past the layer of fat they should have trimmed off. The meat itself was lacking in flavor, so much so that they have to sell you a mix of 8 sauces to spice up the steak.

The saving grace of the "main course" were the sides.

Sweet Corn Pudding.It was seriously like eating pudding. Thick gooey mounds of sweet corn pureed into a pudding. Ah how I loved it. The dish was sweet with a hint of savory. A+!

Also an order of Parmesan truffle fries.

Nicely fried, crisp on the outside with soft cooked potato on the inside. Light truffle flavor with a dash of parmesian.

Now the real highlight of this meal had nothing to do with the food. It had to do with the fact that C-list celeb David Spade and I touched hands. He sat with his back against me. When I put my arm around my MCDP, he also put his arm around and we touched. It was a moment that will live in his memory forever... (heh).

Anyways, STK is a cool scene, it makes me feel vivacious and young like the 24 year old that I am.. even though half the crowd was probably in their early 50's , all the waiters/waitress/hosts/hostesses were young and good looking! Would I tell you to get the steak? Eh, maybe not.